previous next
[32]

The extent of this sea-coast as we sail in a direct line from Rhœteium to Sigeium, and the monument of Achilles, is 60 stadia. The whole of the coast lies below the present Ilium; the part near the port of the Achæans,1 distant from the present Ilium about 12 stadia, and thirty stadia more from the ancient Ilium,2 which is higher up in the part towards Ida.

Near the Sigeium is a temple and monument of Achilles, and monuments also of Patroclus and Anthlochus.3 The Ilienses perform sacred ceremonies in honour of them all, and even of Ajax. But they do not worship Hercules, alleging as a reason that he ravaged their country. Yet some one might say that he laid it waste in such a manner that lie left it to future spoilers in an injured condition indeed, but still in the condition of a city; wherefore the poet expresses himself in this manner,

“ He ravaged the city of Ilium, and made its streets desolate,

”

Il. v. 612.
Let us, however, dismiss this subject, for the discussion leads to the refutation of fables only, and probably there may be reasons unknown to us which induced the Ilienses to worship some of these persons, and not others. The poet seems, in speaking of Hercules, to represent the city as small, since he ravaged the city

“ with six ships only, and a small band of men.4

”

Il. v. 641.
From these words it appears that Priam from a small became a great person, and a king of kings, as we have already said.

A short way from this coast is the Achæïum, situated on the continent opposite Tenedos.

1 The port of the Achæans, the spot, that is, where the Greeks disembarked on the coast of the Troad, at the entrance of the Hellespont, appears to have been comprehended between the hillock called the Tomb of Achilles and the southern base of the heights, on which is situated another tomb, which goes by the name of the Tomb of Ajax. This space of about 1500 toises in length, now sand and lagunes, where the village Koum Kale and the fortress called the New Castle of Asia stand, and which spreads across the mouth of the Menderé, once formed a creek, the bottom of which, from examination on the spot, extended 1200 or 1500 for desolation implies a deficiency of inhabitants, but not a complete destruction of the place; but those persons destroyed it entirely, whom they think worthy of sacred rites, and worship as gods; unless, perhaps, they should plead that these persons engaged in a just, and Hercules in an unjust, war, on account of the horses of Laomedon. To this is opposed a fabulous tale, that it was not on account of the horses but of the reward for the delivery of Hesione from the sea-monster. toises from the present shore. It is from the bottom of this marshy creek the 12 stadia must be measured which Strabo reckons from the Port of the Achæans to New Ilium. These 12 stadia, estimated at 700 to a degree, (like the generality of other measures adopted by Strabo in this district,) are equal to 977 toises, and conduct in a straight line to the western point of the mountain Tchiblak, where there are remains of buildings which may be the vestiges of New Ilium. The other 30 stadia, which, according to Strabo, or rather according to Demetrius of Scepsis, was the distance from New Ilium to the town of the Ilienses, are equal to 2440 toises, and terminate at the most eastern edge of the table-land of Tchiblak, in a spot where ruins of a temple and other edifices are seen. Thus there is nothing to prevent our taking this place for the site of the town of the Ilienses, and this is the opinion of many modern travellers. But did this town occupy the same ground as the ancient Ilium, as Demetrius of Scepsis believed? Strabo thinks not, and we shall hereafter see the objections he has to offer against the opinion of Demetrius.—Gossellin.

2 Consequently ancient Ilium, according to Strabo, was forty-two stadia from the coast. Scylax places it at twenty-five stadia; but probably the copyists of this latter writer have confounded the numerical Greek letters κε (25) with με (45).

3 According to Homer, (Od. xxiv. 75,) Patrocles must have the same tomb with Achilles, as their ashes were united in the same urn; those of Antilochus were contained in a separate urn.

4 Il. v. 641.

The Geography of Strabo. Literally translated, with notes, in three volumes. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

load focus English (1924)
load focus Greek (1877)
hide Dates (automatically extracted)
Sort dates alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a date to search for it in this document.
1500 AD (2)
1200 AD (1)
hide References (2 total)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: